Marco Ricci (Belluno 1676-1730 Venice)

This exquisite work in bodycolour may have been executed as a gift for one of the artist's friends or patrons, its minute size and intricacy showing off Ricci's skill. The same church in its precinct, seen from the same viewpoint, appears with different staffage in other works by the artist: a picture on panel (104 x 124 cm.) sold at Lempertz, Cologne, in 1953; and a work in tempera on vellum (30.5 x 47 cm.), now in a private collection in London (Scarpa Sonino, op. cit., no. T9).